Lukundane Co-op

LUKUNDANE (means: Let us love each other)

This is the name of the co-op that Artists for World Peace gave it’s first micro loan to. This co op began on April 26, 2010 and consists of 30 members. The breakdown are 8 men and 22 women. 7 of the women are widowers. 8 of the members are over 60 years old, and 15 are under 60 years. The Chairman, Paul Jacob Massawe is a retired teacher, as is Albert Sawere Massawe. The co op has a constitution and is registered with the government of Tanzania.

The co op members meet every Monday at the home of Paul Jacob and Natalia Massawe. At every meeting each member contributes 500 shillings that is put into a social fund. This fund is given to members in times of social need, such as a death of a spouse or child. At each meeting members can sell or buy shares. 1 share = 500 shillings and each member can buy up to 5 shares a week. The money is kept in a metal box that has three locks on it. The chairman, secretary, and one other member has a key, and all three members must be present to unlock the box. There are two money counters.

When you need a loan you can borrow up to 3 times your shares. The first three loans that were given out were: One for 30,000 shillings to Gaspari Joseph to buy timber, which he turned into lumber and sold. Another loan was given in the amount of 10,000 shillings to Philipina Anton for marketing vegetables and dried fish. The third loan was to Antonia Mallya for 80,000 shillings. To date 3 members have received 100,000 shillings each as a social contribution, which does not get paid back. These went to Romana Pita, Valentine Thade, and Peladia Jone. Before our micro loan of 400,000 shillings the co op had 91,100 shillings in it’s kitty.

Three current outstanding loans:
Philipina James, who buys and sells sand was loaned 30,000 shillings
Beogratias Massawi, a plumber, has a loan of 100,000
Asha Sulena, who has a small business of buying vegetables and selling to markets has a loan of 100,000.

A short term loan is for 3 months.
There are also loans for 4-6 months, or a year.
Our micro loan, interest free, was given for three years.

Our pig project has been set up as follows:

The pigs will initially be kept at Paul Jacob Massawi’s. The co op will buy 10 pigs at 30,000 shillings each, and buy food, which will cost 100,000 shillings. In 9 months they will sell the initial 10 pigs for 90,000 shillings each. They will sell 10 pigs and use the money to buy 20 new pigs. They will repeat this process in another 9 months, at which time they will sell 20 pigs and buy 40. Nine months later they will sell 40 pigs and buy 80. At that time they will return the initial loan of 400,000 shillings and divide up the profit of selling 80 pigs between all 30 members. Meanwhile, as the piglets are born they will be dividing up the number of piglets between the group. Members can keep the pigs or sell them. This is pure profit for each member. Pigs give birth every 3 months and have anywhere between 3-12 babies at a time.

Artists for World Peace sees this as a wonderful way to give a self motivated, very organized group of villagers a leg up, and not a hand out. It takes a lot of work to care for these pigs, and it is our observation that the members of Lukundane work very well together, are extremely organized and self motivated, and have strong leadership. We are very excited to be able to join forces with Lukundane and plan on working with them on phase 2 of our united mission. That will be to offer a micro loan for the purchase of a grinding machine, installation, and operation. At the end of this three year loan for the pig project, the members of Lukundane will have half of the cost for this next project. At that time Artists for World Peace will give another micro loan for the second half of the expenses. The total cost of the grinding machine, complete with installation will be $7,000 U.S. dollars.

Stay tuned as we will be posting updates on the pig project every 6 months. The project started on August 20, 2010 and has an end date of August 20, 2013.

LUKUNDANE (means: Let us love each other) This is the name of the co-op that Artists for World Peace gave it’s first micro loan to. This co op began on April 26, 2010 and consists of 30 members. The breakdown are 8 men and 22 women. 7 of the women are widowers. 8 of the members are over 60 years old, and 15 are under 60 years. The Chairman, Paul Jacob Massawe is a retired teacher, as is Albert Sawere Massawe. The co op has a constitution and is registered with the government of Tanzania. The co op members meet every Monday at the home of Paul Jacob and Natalia Massawe. At every meeting each member contributes 500 shillings that is put into a social fund. This fund is given to members in times of social need, such as a death of a spouse or child. At each meeting members can sell or buy shares. 1 share = 500 shillings and each member can buy up to 5 shares a week. The money is kept in a metal box that has three locks on it. The chairman, secretary, and one other member has a key, and all three members must be present to unlock the box. There are two money counters. When you need a loan you can borrow up to 3 times your shares. The first three loans that were given out were: One for 30,000 shillings to Gaspari Joseph to buy timber, which he turned into lumber and sold. Another loan was given in the amount of 10,000 shillings to Philipina Anton for marketing vegetables and dried fish. The third loan was to Antonia Mallya for 80,000 shillings. To date 3 members have received 100,000 shillings each as a social contribution, which does not get paid back. These went to Romana Pita, Valentine Thade, and Peladia Jone. Before our micro loan of 400,000 shillings the co op had 91,100 shillings in it’s kitty. Three current outstanding loans: Philipina James, who buys and sells sand was loaned 30,000 shillings Beogratias Massawi, a plumber, has a loan of 100,000 Asha Sulena, who has a small business of buying vegetables and selling to markets has a loan of 100,000. A short term loan is for 3 months. There are also loans for 4-6 months, or a year. Our micro loan, interest free, was given for three years. Our pig project has been set up as follows: The pigs will initially be kept at Paul Jacob Massawi’s. The co op will buy 10 pigs at 30,000 shillings each, and buy food, which will cost 100,000 shillings. In 9 months they will sell the initial 10 pigs for 90,000 shillings each. They will sell 10 pigs and use the money to buy 20 new pigs. They will repeat this process in another 9 months, at which time they will sell 20 pigs and buy 40. Nine months later they will sell 40 pigs and buy 80. At that time they will return the initial loan of 400,000 shillings and divide up the profit of selling 80 pigs between all 30 members. Meanwhile, as the piglets are born they will be dividing up the number of piglets between the group. Members can keep the pigs or sell them. This is pure profit for each member. Pigs give birth every 3 months and have anywhere between 3-12 babies at a time. Artists for World Peace sees this as a wonderful way to give a self motivated, very organized group of villagers a leg up, and not a hand out. It takes a lot of work to care for these pigs, and it is our observation that the members of Lukundane work very well together, are extremely organized and self motivated, and have strong leadership. We are very excited to be able to join forces with Lukundane and plan on working with them on phase 2 of our united mission. That will be to offer a micro loan for the purchase of a grinding machine, installation, and operation. At the end of this three year loan for the pig project, the members of Lukundane will have half of the cost for this next project. At that time Artists for World Peace will give another micro loan for the second half of the expenses. The total cost of the grinding machine, complete with installation will be $7,000 U.S. dollars. Stay tuned as we will be posting updates on the pig project every 6 months. The project started on August 20, 2010 and has an end date of August 20, 2013.

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